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Baby, Please Come Home

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

The Law of Human Nature

For Christmas, Mike B., AKA Mama Bonnonnono, gave me The Complete C.S. Lewis Signature Classics. I love reading, and this book has seven books in it for under $20. I am more of a completist, and having those seven books separate is generally more of my style, but for that price I couldn't argue.

This morning I started the first of the books, 'Mere Christianity.' I was only a few pages into the first chapter 'The Law of Human Nature', and this quote really knocked me over:

For you notice that it is only for our bad behavior that we find all these explanations. It is only our bad temper that we put down to being tired or worried or hungry; we put our good temper down to ourselves.

Think of how true that is. I make conditional admittances like that all of the time. I'll admit to being mean, if I had some reason for it. When I hurt someone, it wasn't because I was being irresponsible with my words, but because I was tired, or stressed, or.. whatever else I can muster at the moment. And it's true, that I am more likely to say or do something irresponsible when I am not in the right frame of mind. But instead of taking responsibility for those things, and admitting that I was completely wrong, I want to place some of the blame on those other conditions.

So not only are we human in that we do wrong, but when we do wrong things, we want to blame something else. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Kind of like when our two naked ancestors were standing in a Garden, and God wanted to know what was going on.

And not only that, but then when we do good things, we want some kind of credit for it.

The quote is really so short, and some might even say it's simple and obvious, but look at how much I could dig out of it. This book is already making me very excited.

When Finals Week Ends, Life Resumes

Finals week ended just as suddenly as it had begun, and the Turnpike ride home began. I have to admit, I opted out of riding the bike during these months. I went out in the snow, and it was far too dangerous. The conditions made control over the bike an idealistic thought at best. It wasn't the cold that bothered me; it was the cold that bothered the bike. They just aren't made for the extreme temperatures.

So I carpooled home for Thanksgiving and Christmas break. Even though I don't have any transportation while home, it's still nice to be here. Of course I'll be working a lot and trying to get money, but the feeling of being home is incredible. I have taken far too much of it for granted.

I've been checking my grades online probably five times a day, it's excessive, but I'm just so anxious to see it all finalized. Even though I only had four finals, over the course of four days, it was just so stressful. I need to work on prioritizing those things.

Another semester has come and gone. It's always so hard to see the growth we make in life when we're in the process of growing. But after that segment is over with, it's obvious looking back why certain things occurred, and where we've grown.

Romans 7:21-25

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

I'm currently going through Romans as my morning reading. This book is so fricken good. For the past several months, I've been going through the Gospels. After hearing so many good verses in STAND from Romans, I decided to go through it, and it was a great decision. When I stumble upon more good ones as my mornings go, I'll post them here.

It reminds me of the Flobot's track 'There's A War Going On For Your Mind.' All of us have these conflicting voices in our heads, not to be confused with Schizophrenia of course. It is kind of like that though. A spiritual Schizophrenia, maybe?

There is a war going on for our hearts, souls, and faithfulness. What is it that we are going to for peace? What do we run to when life gets rough?